Anton Califano
2.1K posts
@antoncalifano
Filmmaker based in London. My company is @MovementInMedia - now making documentary @killingthelaw IG: https://t.co/Nk4YrBAW8R
I was deeply disappointed that the government missed this opportunity today to address the #jointenterprise miscarriage of justice. It was clear from the debate that there is cross-party consensus that #jointenterprise is flawed.
How do cinemas work for indies… and what’s a cinema booker? #indiefilm #filmmaking I still get indie filmmakers in the UK asking me these questions. Normally it’s a Zoom. But filmmaker @antoncalifano and I couldn’t find a time, ended up in a monster email thread… so here it is turned into a blog post. Because this stuff is weirdly opaque until you’ve done it. And the industry doesn’t exactly hand you the manual. Everything is changing Like everything. Everything is changing. A lot of bigger projects now bypass the traditional theatrical dance and go straight to streamers. That doesn’t mean cinemas are dead for independents. In fact, in some ways… it’s a great time to book cinemas directly and build your own audience. And here’s the truth no one wants to say too loudly: If you’re an indie, you’re not “releasing a film”… you’re creating an EVENT. And cinemas LOVE events (when they’re structured properly). My context (why I’m even talking about this) I’ve done this twice in very different ways: Papadopoulos & Sons - a more conventional release structure (cinema programme booking + box office split). The Wife and Her House Husband - a “four-walled” release (I hired the cinemas outright and took all the box office). On the latter, I dropped the ticket price to £1 and turned it into a marketing event. Bums on seats. Noise. Proof. Reviews. Press. I really struggled to get into festivals with the film but as one friend stated, "You're creating your own festival"... and he was right. First: what’s a Cinema Booker? A cinema booker is basically your route into the cinema network. They speak cinema. They know the programming teams, the managers, the quirks (and the politics) of each venue. They’re dealing with everyone from small indies (me and you) to the big fish (Sky/Paramount/etc). And crucially: they can get dates set up far faster than you can by cold-emailing 80 cinemas and slowly losing the will to live. Yes, they charge a fee. But they save you months. And they act like an agent: if you win their trust, they help you win the cinema’s trust. A quick story: the Prince Charles “interview” When I was scrabbling around for a plan for The Wife and Her House Husband, I approached the Prince Charles Cinema via cinema booker Martin Myers about four-walling the release. Gregory Lynn (who has run the Prince Charles for decades and is a firebrand for indie film) essentially interviewed me: Why are you doing this? What’s the film? Who are you? And why the hell are you selling tickets for £1? This took place in the bowels of the cinema. The Prince Charles is a maze of rat runs and tunnels. It genuinely feels like the resistance movement against naked commercial BS that passes for culture. Anyway - I just about cut the mustard. We cut the deal. And then the real question: could I put bums on seats? I did. We did over 1,000 admissions in three weeks there - for a micro-budget film shot in 9 days. More importantly, it wasn’t “a screening”… it was an EVENT. And that’s what triggers reviews and press coverage. That’s a living example of four-walling - one of the two routes you can use. And this is where most people get confused, so let’s make it plain. The two routes (and when to use each) 1) Programme booking (box-office split) This is the grown-up version. Your screening is part of the cinema’s listed programme (often as a “special event” with intro + Q&A). The cinema lists it Tickets are sold through their system They staff it like normal You usually don’t pay hire up front Instead, you agree a split of the box office. Typical split is something like 65/35 (cinema/filmmaker). Sometimes you can push to 60/40 if you’re bringing audience, doing a Q&A, or giving them confidence it will feel like a proper event. Some cinemas also do a hybrid: a small fixed “house allowance” first (covers staffing/projection/admin), then a split of the remainder. That’s them protecting their downside. Why this route matters: it feels like a real public screening. Proper listings. Proper legitimacy. Press can be invited. Audiences can discover it. 2) Private hire / “Four wall” This is the DIY version. You pay a fixed hire fee for the room and you keep the ticket income (minus ticketing fees). But you carry the risk. And this is where the maths can get ugly. If your hire is £750 and you’ve only got 30 seats, you’d need £25 a ticket just to cover the room. Before you’ve paid for anything else. That can kill momentum unless you position it as a fundraiser. BUT… four-walling can be brilliant if you treat it as marketing. I dropped tickets to £1 because I wasn’t chasing ticket revenue - I was chasing bodies, noise, and proof. So: four-wall isn’t “wrong”. It’s just a different weapon. “But Marcus… how do I fill seats?” This is the bit most filmmakers avoid because it feels uncomfortable: Stop thinking like a filmmaker. Start thinking like a political campaign. Instead of crowdfunding, you can do something simpler: Sell blocks of tickets to benefactors. Not “donate to my film.” More like: “Buy 10 tickets and bring 9 people.” “Buy 20 tickets and I’ll gift them to people connected to the cause.” Example: ticket price £10. If someone buys 10 tickets, that’s £100. On a 65/35 split, your share might only be £35. And people go: “That’s terrible.” But what you’re really buying is: a guaranteed audience an atmosphere in the room photos and social proof buzz proof of demand And proof of demand is what gets you meetings. It’s what helps you persuade press. It’s what makes broadcasters / partners / sales agents actually listen. Get 30 people to buy 10 tickets each across a run and you’ve got 300 seats sold before the general public even shows up. Now you’re not begging the world to care. You’re demonstrating it. The boring bits people forget (but will bite you) BBFC / classification If it’s a public screening in a licensed cinema (proper ticketed public sale), most cinemas will want a BBFC rating or a local authority route. Always ask the venue - policies vary. E&O (Errors & Omissions) Cinemas generally care that you have the rights and you indemnify them. Broadcasters/streamers are different: if you’re aiming at them, E&O will likely become a requirement - especially if you’ve got archive. Festival premiere status Yes - public ticketed screenings can affect premiere status. Every festival defines “premiere” differently (UK / England / world etc). So if festivals matter: do the festival run first, then the cinema tour, or keep early screenings private/invite-only and don’t treat them as a public release. Why this matters right now We’re in an era where attention is the commodity. Streamers can buy content. But they can’t buy a relationship between a film and an audience. If you can build even a small, real audience - city by city, screening by screening - you’re no longer “a film looking for distribution”. You’re a film with traction. And traction is the only language the industry consistently understands. If you’re an indie doc maker (or indie feature maker) sitting there thinking: “I don’t have a path”… you do. It’s just not the old path. It’s the path where you create your own festival, your own nights, your own momentum - and you let the industry catch up. (And yes, it’s work. But so is waiting two years for someone to rescue you.)
What an amazing match day! ⚽⚽⚽ We filmed the 150th anniversary of the @sapperfootball historic FA Cup triumph commemorative friendly match with @Clubhouse who were joined by special guest & club ambassador, the legendary Eduardo da Silva 💥@Proud_Sappers #football
Some of our latest work!
Our team has been reduced to tears re-living Andy's story. If you were also moved by the harrowing BBC documentary pls send Andy a message of support (you can also tell him where you think he should travel to) 👇 H/O @franrobertson1 @Proper_J_Gander appeal.org.uk/message-of-sup…
Mawaan Rizwan collects his BAFTA for Male Performance in a Comedy 👏 #BAFTATVAwards with @pandocruises
